Pencil-sharpener.



S. W. BATES & A. F. SANBORN, Jg.

' PBNGIL SHARPENER. PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP a.

OOOOOOO PATENTED MAY 31, 1.904. 4

taper desired for the pencil.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Patented May 31, 19021.

SOLOMON W. BATES AND ANDREW F. SANBORN, JR., OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

PENcIL-sHARPENE'R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,191, dated'May 31,1904.

V Application filed June 29, 1903. erial No. 163,536. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, SoLoMoN W. BA'rns and ANDI-:EW F. SANBORN, Jr.,citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Portland,Cumberland county, and State of Maine, have inventedl certain new anduseful Improvements in Pencil-Sharpeners, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to pencil-sharpeners of that class wherein theknife of a conical cutter is used to cut the wood from the point,leaving the lead uncut, the lead being subsequently ground off withabrasive material which forms part of the sharpener.

The invention consists of a conical cutter having the flat portion ofthe knife formed into a file, so that the file which is used forgrinding off the point performs two functions, acting at the same timeas a knife and a file.

It further consists in forming the knifeedge of the file obliquely withrelation to the sides, so that a narrow file can be made with suflicientlength of cutting edge to give the desired taper to the pencil.

We illustrate our invention by means of the'accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure-1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. of Fig. 2,and Fig. 4 is a section on the line y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 shows amodification.

A represents a suitable base, preferably of wood, formed with a handlea. It is provided with a transverse conical hole- (Z, having the A slot(L2 is cut through the wood into the top of this conical hole, and aninclined surface is formed adjacent to the conical hole, on which issecured the cutting-knife in the usual manner of constructing suchconical sharpeners. The knife b' is formed on the end of the file B, andthe file is secured to the base lby screws b passing through oblongslots in the file. The conical hole has its smaller end preferably leftlarge enough so that the knife as it cuts leaves a portion of woodsurrounding the lead. The pencil is first inserted in the conical cutterand the wood cut away sufficiently far, leaving the lead uncut. Thelatter is Fig. 3 is a section on the line m :rl

then ground off on the file and the point thus formed.

It will be seen that according to our invention the file performs thedouble function of a knife and a file,`and thus simplifies theconstruction of the device. It has the further advantage of forming theknife with sufficient size so that it can be easily taken off andhandled for the purpose of sharpening, whereas a very small knife, suchas is generally used, cannot be easily handled and few people will takethe trouble to sharpen them when they once-get dull.

In Fig. 5 is shown a modification in which the knife is formed obliquelyto the edges of the file, so as to give the necessary length of cut toform the desired taper to the pencil. In this figure, A' is the base,and B' the file. When the cutting edge is thus formed obliquely acrossthe end of the file, a narrow file may be used, while giving thenecessary length to the cutting edge of the knife.

We claim- 1. The herein-described pencil-sharpener consisting of a blockformed with a handle at one end and a transverse conical opening formedat the base of said handle, said block having an elongated surfacesubstantially tangent to said conical opening and extending toward theend opposite to the said handle, a file having transverse serrations andprovided with a cutting edge upon one end, said cutting edge beingadjacent to the lconical opening, said file being further provided withslots through the body thereof,'and screws passing through said slots ofthe file and into the block for Securing the file adjustably upon theblock.

2. The herein-described pencil-sharpener consisting of an elongatedblock having a transverse conical opening therein, the axis of Which isoblique to the sides of said block, an elongated flat file secured tosaid block having a knife formed on its end, the cutting edge of saidknife being substantially parallel with the axis of said conical openingand forming with said conical opening, a conical cutter' 3. Theherein-described pencil-sharpener consisting of a longitudinal blockprovided with a handle at one end, a transverse conical Opening formedyat the base of the handle near the upper surface of the block 'so as topresent a transverse slot in the upper face of the block, a file havingtransverse serrations and provided With a cutting edge upon one endadjustably secured upon the upper face of the block so that the cuttingedge projects slightly into the slot formed by the conical opening, andmeans for adjustably securing the file to the block.

4. The herein-described pencil-sharpener, consisting of a longitudinalblock provided at one end with a handle and With transverse conical boreformed in the body of the block at the base of the handle so as toprovide a trans- Verse slot in the upper surface of the block, a fileprovided with a cutting edge upon one end, central serrations, andlongitudinal slots through the body thereof near its ends beyond theserrations, said cutting edge being adapted to project into the slot andslightly beyond '20 Signed at'Portland, Maine, this 26th day of 25 June,1903.

SOLOMON W. BATES. ANDREWV F. SANBORN, JR.

' Witnesses:

LEVI TURNER, LoTTIEpM. GODFREY.

